Coleman challenged in race for Senate

By Alexander Hall

Next November, incumbent Norm Coleman will be fighting to hold on to his seat in the United States Senate. The Republican Senator is currently serving his first term, but should face serious competition from his Democratic counterparts.

The two most likely choices for the Democratic nomination in the upcoming primaries are Al Franken and Mike Ciresi.

Franken is a former Saturday Night Live staff writer and cast member, and more recently could be heard as a political commenter on his talk show on the radio network Air America. He also has written several best-selling books and has received five Emmy Awards for his work on Saturday Night Live.

Ciresi is among Minnesota’s top attorneys and has won groundbreaking cases against the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries. He has also previously run for a United States Senate seat in the 2000 election.

While Franken is the more recognizable of the two and has had a much easier time raising funds, Ciresi’s strong background in law has made him just as likely to win the Democratic nomination.
Al Franken recently wrapped up a tour of Minnesota colleges that had students across the state talking. The central message he was trying to convey was that this generation will be the one to have to deal with the consequences of our current government’s failures.

Al claims that college students are inheriting an insufficient health care system,
a looming global warming crisis, and likely little or no social security. On top of that, he says, this generation is already paying for the war in Iraq as well as the lack of affordable higher education opportunities, which will likely leave scores of students with more debt than they will ever be able to pay off.

While Franken will be popular among many Democrats for being such a strong proponent of universal health care and bringing an end to the Iraq war, he will have to overcome several obstacles if he wants to win his party’s nomination.

For one, Minnesota will likely be hesitant to elect an entertainer after the long headache it suffered after electing former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor. That’s not to suggest that he is anything like the former governor, but Franken will have to work diligently if he wants to be taken seriously.

Another problem that he might encounter is that he was initially in favor of invading Iraq. For the past several years, Franken has publicly denounced the war and attacked the president for allegedly leading our country into war under false pretenses.

While Al often admits he made a big mistake by supporting the war in the beginning, he is sure to be labeled by his competitors as a “flip-flopper.”

Mike Ciresi’s stances on many of the issues thought to be most important in the 2008 election are similar to that of his Democratic counterpart Al Franken.

Ciresi supports universal healthcare, the removal of troops from Iraq, lowering the cost of college and cutting interest rates on student loans.

However, Ciresi is planning on bringing the troops home as soon as possible, while Al Franken is currently in favor of setting a timetable for withdrawal. Ciresi has also already begun attacking Franken for his early support of the war.